Nipple for nursing bottles



W3 9, 393%. LGARFHELD 2,126,322

NIPPLE FOR NURSING BOTTLES Filed 001;. 21, 1955 Patented Aug. 9, 1938 NIPPLE FOR NURSING BOTTLES Louis Garfield,

New York, N. Y.

Application October 21, 1936, Serial No. 106,733

1 Claim.

This invention relates to nipples, and more particularly has for its object to provide a novel means of permitting air to enter the interior of the nipple while the nippleis being used. and

the second object is to provide a secure hold of the nipple on the bottle, and the third object is to provide a tab which permits a quick and convenient means of removing the, nipple from the bottle.

The invention consists of improved means for providing a supply of air into the interior of the nipple while it is being used, and also consists in providing an improved means for holding the nipple securely to the bottle, and finally provides means in the form of a tab which extends along the length of the bottle and may be readily gripped so as to conveniently and quickly remove the nipple from the bottle.

Other features of the invention will be hereinafter described and pointed out, and an embodiment of the invention will be shown in the accompanying drawing and described in the following description, and the invention will be finally pointed out in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a perspective view partially in section showing my improved nipple applied to the end of a bottle,

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional longitudinal view of my improved nipple taken on line 22 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2,

, Figure 4 is a bottom view of Figure 2,

Figure 5 is a cross section taken on line 5-5 of Figure 2, and

Figure 6 is a cross section'of a bottle taken on line 6-6 of Figure 2.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the various views.

Referring to the drawing, and more particularly to Figures 1 and 2, the bottle I0 is provided with a collar H which is disposed somewhat spaced from the uppermost edge l2 of the bottle. In order to obtain a secure hold of the nipple upon the bottle, these bottles being of a standard make, the nipple is provided with a circumferential recess l4 and is provided with a shoulder sary to expand the rubber of the nipple, and by the forces acting to contract the nipple to its initial state the nipple is securely held to the collar l I when the nipple has been applied to the bottle.

Along thelength of one side 20 of the nipple a tab 2! is provided which has its exterior surface 22 in alignment with the surface 20, but the inner surface 23 is curved so as to have substantially the contour of the bottle. This curvature permits the innermost part of the tab to abut the bottle, and at the same time the sides of the tab, looked at in the bottom view of Figure 4:, are inclined, as shown by the surfaces 26, and the combination of these parts of extending the tab H in alignment with the nipple to the exterior surface of the nipple, curving it at the inner surface, and inclining the sides 26, enables a tab to be produced which may be readily gripped by the hand so as to pull the nipple off the bottle. Without a tab it is diflicult to grip the lowermost part of the nipple since it is under tension, and this tab permits the nipple to be readily gripped and removed from the bottle.

A further portion of the invention consists in providing one wall of the nipple with a channel 30 which terminates near the curved shoulder 3| of the nipple. The nipple portion is made wider than the ordinary nipple so as to provide a way to allow for the channel 30. The channel 30 is on one side of the recess I4, there being a Wall 32 between the recess I4 and the channel 30. The uppermost end of this channel 36 is encountered by a very thin wall of the nipple structure indicated by 33, and when molding these nipples the extreme end of the molding pin which forms the channel 30 does not pierce this wall 33 but allows this wall 33 to be conformed. This wall 33 is of semi-circular shape as seen inFigure 3 and extends over the uppermost edge of the channel 30. The nipple is particularly formed to provide this wall 33. After the nipple has been molded and vulcanized and is ready for use, a rod is inserted in the channel 30 and pushed upwardly into the channel 35] until the free end of the rod abuts against this wall 33. The rod is then further moved until the wall 33 is pierced and then the rod is immediately withdrawn. This wall 33 is very thin, and after it has been pierced the parts of the wall, due to their own inherent resiliency, again abut each other along the ruptured portion so that to the naked eye one would only see a very faint line of a relatively small length. The flexibility of this thin wall permits, however, these ruptured portions to act as a valve when air is sucked in through the channel 30, and again when the sucking action immediately stops, the inherent resiliency of the material forming the wall 33 causes the ruptured portions to go back again into their abutting position. Thus, by sucking in air through the channel 30 the ruptured portions are separated, and by stopping the suction the ruptured portions again go back into their former position.

It will be particularly noted that the wall 33 is directly above the shoulder 38 and is, in a sense, in a protected position in that the fluid passes out of the interior of the neck of the bottle directly through the nipple towards its opening 39 and the shoulder 38, in a sense, prevents this fluid from going against the valve 33, the air supply, however, being readily permitted in accordance with the manner described heretofore.

It will be seen from the foregoing that this invention embodied in the improved nipple consists of three essential parts; first, a means for securely holding the nipple to the bottle due to the pressure of the material forming the nipple against the collar of the bottle on all sides of the collar; secondly, the provision of a tab adapted to extend along the longitudinal length of the bottle and having a curved inner surface to conform to the contour of the bottle, whereby the nipple may be readily removed; and, finally, means are provided in a thickened wall of the nipple to provide an air channel which terminates in a bleed valve or a valve formed from a ruptured portion of the membrane or wall in line with the innermost end of the air channel.

Having thus described the embodiment of my invention and the various features thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the particular details thereof as shown and described, since changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention as defined in the accompanying claim.

What is claimed is:

In a nipple, the combination of two interiorly disposed collars having a recess therebetween adapted to engage the collar of a bottle, an enlarged wall at one circumferential portion of the nipple, said wall having a straight channel in the enlarged portion perpendicular to the plane passing through the collar, and a membrane at the innermost end of the channel bridging the same and in line with the uppermost interior collar, said membrane being integral and adapted to act as a'valve for the inlet of air from the exterior of the nipple to the interior thereof, and a tab integral with said nipple disposed diametrically opposite to the enlarged wall, the outer surface of the tab being in line with the outer surface of the nipple, the inner surface of the tab being curved to conform to the curved shape of the feedingv bottle, said tab having lateral walls substantially radial to the nipple, whereby the tab being disposed diametrically opposite to the enlarged wall enables a quick removal of the nipple from the bottle by the enlarged wall acting as a fulcrum.

LOUIS GARFIELD. 

